Effect of different varieties and FYM levels on yield and quality of onion (Allium cepa L.) in arid western Rajasthan, India

An experiment was conducted during Rabi season of 2009–2010 at Horticulture Farm, Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University, and Bikaner. The experiment comprising four varieties of onion viz., PDR, RO-59, RO-252 and RO-282 and FYM levels viz., 0, 20, 40 and 60 t ha-1 . A total of 16 treatment combinations were evaluated in randomized block design with three replications.

Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2017.606.058

Effect of Different Varieties and FYM Levels on Yield and Quality of Onion

(Allium cepa L.) in Arid Western Rajasthan, India

P.K Kaswan*, P.K Yadav, R.K Jakhar, Amit Kumawat and Harish Kumar

Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural

University, Bikaner–334 006, India

*Corresponding author

A B S T R A C T

Introduction

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is one of the

commonest and indispensable vegetable cum

condiment crop grown for local consumption,

export and processing and is used as salad and

cooked in various ways in all curies, fried,

boiled, baked, soup making and in pickles

Soils of Western Rajasthan, particularly in

Bikaner district, contain very low clay (4–6%)

and organic matter (0.08), N (0.50), P (0.25)

and K (0.50) Farmyard manure rich in

organic matter can be supplemented with N, P

and K fertilizers FYM not only provides

most of the essential plant nutrients but also

improves soil structure through binding effect

on soil aggregates, cation exchange capacity, water holding capacity, fertilizers use efficiency, microbial activity and nutrient availability in soil Farm yard manure with chemical fertilizers and their method of application help in improving the fertility and productivity and physical condition of soil (Abusaleha and Shamugvelu, 1998) Among the various factors responsible for higher yield potential, the application of adequate quantities of Farm Yard Manure is considered

as one of the most effective way to boosting the crop yield (Mohanty and Prusti, 2001 and

Singh et al., 1995) in soils of western

International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences

ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 6 (2017) pp 497-503

Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com

An experiment was conducted during Rabi season of 2009–2010 at Horticulture Farm, Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University, and Bikaner The experiment comprising four varieties of onion viz., PDR, RO-59, RO-252 and RO-282 and FYM levels viz., 0, 20, 40 and 60 t ha-1

A total of 16 treatment combinations were evaluated in randomized block design with three replications The results indicated that plant height, number of leaves per plant, moisture content of bulb, neck thickness, diameter of bulb, volume of bulb, bulb yield, TSS and N, P and K uptake were maximum under the variety RO-252 Application of FYM @ 40 t/ha significantly increased number of leaves per plant, moisture content of bulb, neck thickness, diameter of bulb, volume of bulb, bulb yield, TSS, Pungency and N, P and K content and uptake however, plant height at 60 DAT was maximum with the application of 60 t FYM/ha

K e y w o r d s

Bulb,

Farm yard manure,

Moisture,

Onion,

Varieties and

Volume.

Accepted:

04 May 2017

Available Online:

10 June 2017

Article Info

Rajasthan The main reason for low

productivity is lack of suitable varieties for

cultivation in arid areas Most of the farmers

are illiterate and always remain under

confusion about recommended varieties One

of the important aspects of improvement in

yield and quality of onion is the selection of

suitable cultivars to a particular agro-climatic

region

Materials and Methods

The experiment was conducted on loamy sand

soil at Horticulture Farm, College of

Agriculture, Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan

Agricultural University, Bikaner, during Rabi

season 2009–2010 The experiment

comprising four varieties of onion viz., PDR,

RO-59, RO-252 and RO-282 and FYM levels

viz., 0, 20, 40 and 60 t/ha A total of 16

treatment combinations were evaluated in

randomized block design with three

replications The seven week old seedlings of

four varieties of onion viz., PDR, 59,

RO-252 and RO-282 were transplanted with

spacing of 15 x 10 cm in second December

2009 The irrigation was applied through drip

system consisted of 16 mm laterals having

drippers at 40 cm distance Each plot

consisted of 3 laterals at 80 cm apart and four

rows of onion were planted at each lateral As

per treatment FYM was applied at the time of

field preparation and chemical fertilizers i.e

nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (100, 50

and 100 kg/ha) were applied through Urea,

DAP and MOP

Results and Discussion

Effect of varieties

Among different varieties, RO-252 produced

significantly higher plant height and

maximum number of leaves per plant at 60

days after transplanting over rest of the

varieties (Table 1) Plant height and number

of leaves per plant are the genetic characters

and hence different varieties varied with respect to these characters which ultimately brought about variation in these characters This finding corroborate with the results of Mohanty and Prusti (2001) RO-252 variety produced significantly higher moisture content of bulb This might be due to characteristics of this variety that increased vegetative growth in terms of plant height and number of leaves per plant which resulted in higher moisture content of bulb These characters play a vital role in various metabolic processes primarily that results in increased net photosynthesis and helps in the translocation of photosynthates in storage organ of bulb resulting in increased weight of bulb Diameter and volume of bulb and bulb yield were found significantly higher in

RO-252 however, significantly lesser neck thickness was found in same variety This might be due to characteristics of these varieties that increased vegetative growth with extended frame work of plant The bulb yields being primary function of cumulative effect of these parameters Improved fresh weight of leaves and bulb with varietal characters leading to significant improvement

in bulb yield and resulted in better source and sink relationship Similar results were

observed by Khar et al., (2007) in onion

Allyl- propyl disulphide was recorded highest

in PDR variety than the other varieties of onion (Table 2) This might be due to characteristics of this variety that slightly increased trend leads to increase of volatile and fatty oil content resulting in significantly higher production of allyl-propyl disulphide

in onion bulbs Increased in allyl-propyl disulphide with variety PDR was in close

agreement with those of Abbey et al., (2005)

in onion Highest TSS content (12.03 ºBrix) was recorded in RO-252 variety of onion followed by RO-59, RO-282 and PDR which was 2.82, 2.99 and 6.64 per cent higher over RO-59, RO-282 and PDR, respectively However, there was non-significant difference

observed between RO-59 and RO-282.The

varietal character increased total soluble

solids, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium

content and uptake which were found

maximum in RO-252 This might be due to

vigorous vegetative growth and imparts deep

green colour of the foliage which favoured

photosynthetic activity of the plants Due to

this there was greater accumulation of food

material i.e carbohydrate in the bulb There

was more synthesis of T.S.S Similar

observations were also reported by Khar et

al., (2007) and Zhong et al., (1997) in onion

Effect of FYM

The maximum plant height at 60 DAT was

observed with the application of 60 tonnes

FYM (Table 1) However, the maximum

number of leaves per plant was recorded with

FYM 40 t/ha This might be due to the fact

that application of FYM resulted in vigorous

vegetative growth of the plant and imparted

dark green colour to the foliage which

favoured photosynthetic activity of the plant

and greater synthesis of carbohydrate in the

leaves leading to formation of amino acids,

nucleo-proteins, chlorophyll, alkaloids and

amides These complex compounds are

responsible for building up of new tissues and

are associated with a number of metabolic

processes, which in turn favoured better

development of plant These results are in

agreement with the findings of Rafi et al.,

(2002) in tomato, Ghuge et al., (2007) also

observed better growth in cabbage with

organic manure application Maliangouda et

al., (1995) reported application of FYM and

NPK improved plant height and number of

branches in chilli Manolikar et al., (2007)

reported that the application of farm yard

manure 40 t/ha along with 50% RDF

produced maximum height of plant in tomato

In general, the significant improvement in

yield attributes of onion with the farm yard

manure could be ascribed to overall improvement in vigour and crop growth as already explained in preceding paragraphs Since an adequate and small amount of major nutrients supplied through FYM in the life of

a plant is considered important in promoting rapid fresh weight and dry weight of bulb in terms of bulb size, diameter of bulb, volume

of bulb and bulb yield These parameters were recorded significantly higher with application

of 40 tonnes FYM per hectare FYM coupled with increased net photosynthesis and helps in the translocation of photosynthates in storage organ of bulb resulted in increased diameter

and weight of bulbs (Singh et al., 1995 and Mallangouda et al., 1995) The bulb yield

being a primarily function of cumulative effect of these parameters, significantly increased by 315.17 q/ha with FYM at 40 t/ha

The beneficial effects of farm yard manure on yield attributes were probably due to enhanced supply of macro as well as micronutrients during entire growing season

It might have attributed to higher manufacture

of food and its subsequent partitioning in sink The availability and supply of nutrients

to plants favourably influenced the flowering and fruit formation, ultimately increased the bulb yield The FYM might enhance the efficiency of uptake of native and soil nutrients The reason for increased bulb yield with the application of farm yard manure could be attributed to solubilization effect of plant nutrients by the addition of FYM leading to increased uptake of nutrients especially NPK as reported by Raina and Jaggi (2008) in onion and Singh and Janardan (2004) in potato The improvement in bulb weight and yield of onion in response to farm yard manure application is possibly attributed

to improved soil physical conditions and slow release availability of nutrients (Dimri and Singh, 2005)

Table.1 Effect of varieties and FYM levels on growth and yield of onion

Treatments

Plant height (cm) at 60 DAS

No of leaves per plant at 60 DAS

Moisture content of bulb (%)

Neck thickness (cm)

Diameter of bulb (cm)

Volume of bulb (cc)

Bulb yield (q ha-1) Varieties

Levels of FYM (t/ha)

Table.2 Effect of varieties and FYM levels on quality parameters of onion

Treatments TSS (oBrix) Allyl-propyl disulphide

content (mg/100g)

Nutrient content (%) Nutrient uptake (kg/ha) Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium Varieties

Levels of FYM (t/ha)

The application of farm yard manure up to 40

t/ha significantly increased the total soluble

solids (TSS) content in comparison to control

and other doses of FYM (Table 2) The

maximum TSS in bulb was recorded with

FYM @ 40 t/ha The improvement in TSS

might be due to the known fact that organic

manures (farm yard manures) are capable of

supplying adequate macro and micro plant

nutrients which play a major role in quality

improvement through desirable enzymatic

changes taking place during growth Higher

nutrient contents in leaves and bulb also

seems to be attributed to higher functional

activity of roots for lower duration under this

treatment Similar results were obtained by

Gupta et al., (1999) and Bairwa et al., (2009)

The pungency of onion increased with the

increasing doses of FYM up to 60 t/ha than

the control The increase in pungency of

onion at higher level of FYM was due to

increase in synthesis and translocation of

sulphur to the onion (Raina and Jaggi, 2008)

Application of 40 t FYM/ha significantly

increased the nitrogen, phosphorus and

potassium contents and uptake in plants over

its lower doses but remained at par with 60 t

FYM/ha The positive influence of FYM on

N, P and K contents in plants was due to

improved nutritional environment in the dense

root zone of the plants Thus adequate supply

of FYM early in the crop season resulted in

greater availability of nutrients including N, P

and K in particular root zone Nutrient

availability increased in the root zone coupled

with increased metabolic activity at the

cellular level might have increased the

nutrients uptake and accumulation in

vegetative plant parts The NPK uptake

increased under organic treatments as

compared to control The probable reason for

this increase was that, sources of organic

manures applied to onion might have

improved nutrient availability in soil and thus

benefited the crop Secondly, higher bulb

yield obtained with organic sources also resulted in better uptake of nutrients from soil Higher uptake at maximum fertility level might be due to more nutrient content and yields which removed more nutrients from

soil (Sarkar and Mondal, 2005)

References

Abbey, L., Joyce, D C., Aked, J and Smith,

B 2005 Evaluation of eight spring onion genotypes, sulphur nutrition and soil-type effects with an electronic nose

J Hort Sci Biotechnol., 80(3): 375 –

381

Abusaleha and Shanmugavelu, K.G 1998 Studies on the effect of organic v/s inorganic sources of nitrogen on growth, yield and quality of okra

[Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench]

Indian Journal of Horticulture, 45(2):

312 – 318

Bairwa, H L., Shukla, A K Mahawer, L N., Kaushik, R A., Shukla, K B and Ameta, K D 2009 Response of integrated nutrient management on yield, quality and physio-chemical characteristics of okra cv Arka Anamika Indian Journal of Horticulture, 66(3): 310 – 314

Dimri, D.C and Singh V.P 2005 Response

of farm yard manure, nitrogen and row spacing on bulb weight and yield of

onion (Allium cepa L.) cv VL-3

Progressive Horticulture, 37(1): 185 –

187

Ghuge, T.D., Gore, A.K and Jadhav, S.B

2007 Effect of organic and inorganic nutrient sources on growth, yield and

quality of cabbage (Brassica oleracea

var capitata) Journal of Soil and Crops, 17: 89 – 92

Gupta, R P., Sharma, V P., Singh, D K and Srivastava, K J 1999 Effect of organic manure and inorganic fertilizer on growth, yield and quality of onion cv

Agri Found Dark Red Newsletter –

National Horticultural Research and

Development Foundation, 19 (2/3): 7 –

11

Khar, A., Devi, A., Asha, Mahajan, V and

Lawande, K E 2007 Stability analysis

of some elite onion lines in late kharif

season Indian Journal of Horticulture,

64: 32-36

Mallangouda, B., Sulikeri, G.S., Murthy, B.G

and Patibha, N.C 1995 Effect of NPK,

FYM and companion crops on growth,

yield and yield component of chilli

(Capsicum annum L.) Adv Agril Res

India, 3: 58 – 59

Manolikar, R R., Vitkar, M N., Vasmate, S

D., Patil, R F and Kalalbandi, B.M

2007 Effect of integrated nutrient

management on growth and yield of

tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum

Mill.) The Asian Journal of

Horticulture, 2: 178 – 180

Mohanty, B.K and Prusti, A.M 2001

Performance of common onion varieties

in kharif seasons Indian Journal of

Tropical Agriculture, 39: 21 – 23

Rafi, Mohmad, Narwadkar, P.R., Prabu, T

and Sajindranath, A.K 2002 Effect of

organic and inorganic fertilizers on

growth and yield of tomato

(Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) South

Indian Hort., 50(4-6): 522 – 526

Raina, S.K and Jaggi, R.C 2008 Effect of sulphur in presence and absence of farm

yard manure on onion (Allium cepa L.) under onion-maize (Zea mays) cropping

sequence Indian Journal of Agriculture Sciences, 78(8): 659 – 662

Sarkar, B and Mondal, S.S 2005 Effect of integrated nutrient management on the growth and productivity of potato

(Solanum tuberosum) Environment and

Ecology, 23(3): 387 – 391

Singh, S K and Janardan, J 2004 Effect of organic and inorganic sources of nutrition on productivity, economics and nutrient uptake of potato First Indian Horticulture Congress held at New Delhi Abstracts pp 260

Singh, V., Singh R K and Singh, V 1995

Response of onion (Allium cepa L.) to

N, P, Zn and FYM Annals of Agricultural Research, 16: 79 – 81 Zhong Song, Zhang Dipei, Weiyouying, Li-Ji Rong, Sun Hejun and Zhang, S 1997 Analysis of soluble solids, dry matter, soluble sugar and ethereal oil in welsh

onion (Allium fistulasum L.) Journal of

Shandong Agricultural University, 28:

2477 – 2482

How to cite this article:

Kaswan, P.K., P.K Yadav, Harish Kumar, R.K Jakhar, Amit Kumawat and Harish Kumar

2017 Effect of different varieties and FYM levels on yield and quality of onion (Allium cepa L.) in Arid Western Rajasthan, India Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci 6(6): 497-503

doi: https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2017.606.058